Years 7, 8 and 9 Program Leader | Mr Damien Coman

Next week is Week 8 and it is an incredibly important time of term for our young men. It can also become quite stressful for them and therefore this can follow them home. The juggling act of completing all homework, working on assignments and revising for upcoming exams on top of co-curricular commitments is the challenge of students. Some may now reflect on the messages of starting assignments as early as possible to free up more time for revision at this stage. Students need to have a clear plan for tonight and for the week including the subject, the specific work and the time to be spent on each.

We have a number of students contesting the QAMT (QLD Mathematics) test next Wednesday 14 March, some Year 8s attended an interesting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) workshop at QUT and some other Year 7 students participated in an academic ‘cluster’ at All Hallows’ School.
 
NAPLAN testing for Mathematics, Language Skills, Writing and Reading will be held for Years 7 and 9 during 15-17 May . To help students understand the style of questions, they are being prepared gradually in a number of ways that are incorporated into their English and Maths subjects. English has incorporated a comprehension lesson with the librarians and Maths students are moving through a past paper in classes over a number of weeks. We also have a full practice for both Maths/Language areas in the exam block for Years 7 and 9.
 
Students could practise with the ‘example paper’ for each segment at www.nap.edu.au/naplan/the-test...  or past papers 2008-2011 at www.acara.edu.au/assessment/na... if they wanted to become familiar with the style of questions that they will encounter.
 
Next week the College celebrates the National Day Against Bullying. Posters are all around the school with the messages that we convey so often. Students in Years 7 and 8 will also talk in more detail about the issues associated with bullying in this day and age and that are well documented through various news outlets. Prevention is always key and boys ensuring that they are aware of the consequences of their actions and words. Support is also widely advertised and at hand at the College through Tutors, House Deans, significant adults in a student’s life (such as coaches) and importantly, our Counselling Department.